Delhi needs to work on lowering pollution, petty crimes, say experts

An annual survey on Global Livability Index, released by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Wednesday, stated that Delhi ranks poorly because of its “appalling air quality” and rise in petty crimes. The national capital was ranked 118th among 140 cities, six ranks lower than that of last year.

From creating a gender inclusive infrastructure to collaborating with neighbouring states and focusing on data to tackle air pollution, experts said Delhi needs to reorient its methodology to mitigate the two biggest problems the capital faces — air pollution and rise in petty crimes.

A lack of concerted global effort to tackle climate change risks further downward revisions in these scores, the survey stated. (Sonu Mehta/HT File PHOTO)

An annual survey on Global Livability Index, released by Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Wednesday, stated that Delhi ranks poorly because of its “appalling air quality” and rise in petty crimes. The national capital was ranked 118th among 140 cities, six ranks lower than that of last year.

“A lack of concerted global effort to tackle climate change risks further downward revisions in these scores, threatening to offset improvements in the other categories, such as education and infrastructure, which remain on a broadly upward trend,” the survey stated.

In the category of ‘culture and environment’, the national capital scored 51.4 out of a maximum 100 points. This is 18 points less than China’s Beijing, which has also been making efforts to improve its air quality.

The poor ranking is despite the fact that in the first seven months of 2019, Delhi witnessed the lowest average air pollution level, compared to the corresponding period of previous years since 2012, according to data provided by the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC). However, the levels of particulate matter (2.5 and 10)were still two times the permissible limit. The daily permissible limit for PM10 is 100 mg/m3 and for PM 2.5 is 60 mg/m3.

“Even though the air quality in Delhi improved over the last few months, this improvement was marginal. The primary problem is the collation of data itself. It is not captured in real time across the city, which makes the assessment of pollution levels difficult,” Vivek Chattopadhyay, senior program manager (Clean Air Program) at the Centre for Science and Environment, said.

The report also made a mention of Delhi’s “rising crime rates”, that affected its “stability”.

Until mid-August this year, Delhi saw 832 crimes reported every day on average — a 27% jump from the corresponding period in 2018. The Delhi Police data shows that four in every five crimes was a theft or burglary. Also, a snatching or robbery takes place every hour, on average, the data shows.

Delhi Police spokesperson Mandeep Singh Randhawa said that the police have managed to bring down street crimes like robbery and snatching.

“There is a 6% decrease in street crimes and we have been able to solve nearly 90% of all such crimes,” Randhawa said, adding that police’s preventive steps have led to a reduction in “heinous” crimes by over 7%.

The city has also seen 186 rapes and 42 murders every month so far this year.